Skeletons Cluttering Your Closet? Exorcise Your Clutter Demons

Is Your House Haunted? In the “spirit” of the times, your organizer wants to know: Is your house full of rotting corpses, moaning ghosts, life-sucking vampires, or any other phantasm that torments you and haunts your house? I want to share some clients’ Halloween stories to help you re-think what you’re still holding onto, and how all that scary stuff is ruining your life and your space.

Rotting Corpses: “Ana” and I were de-cluttering her sun room. A nasty smell lingered in the air, and we couldn’t figure out the source. Finally, Ana exclaimed, “OMG, it’s this bamboo plant! [which was stagnating in algae-filled water.] It smells like a rotting corpse!!!” When we finally stopped laughing, it made me think… what else in my clients’ homes is like a rotting corpse? What dead, useless items are stinking up your potentially beautiful spaces? Can you identify what’s rotten in your world?
Moaning Ghosts: “Rita” got her ex-boyfriend out of her house, but he left his stuff there for months. Ask yourself: what keepsakes, photos, clothing, skis, furniture, etc. are hanging around from good relationships gone bad, or unwelcome inheritances from dead relatives? Do they conjure negativity in you every time you see them, perhaps even subconsciously? The wisdom is: get rid of items that create negative energy in your space.

Life Sucking Vampires: “Jane” was stuck with 3 storage units full of mostly worthless stuff after two hoarder-shopaholic relatives died. It was stressing her out, making her physically ill, giving her nightmares and draining her energy. What stuff are you responsible for, or hanging onto, that drains you of all your energy and positivity just by looking at it or thinking about having to deal with it?

Frankenstein’s Monsters: “Suzy”’s grandma died last century, but Suzy had a basement full of her yarn, fabric, and unfinished craft projects. What broken items or unfinished projects are taking up valuable real estate in your attic-basement-garage-yard that you keep telling yourself you’re going to resurrect one day and give a new life? Put the dead items to rest before the whole neighborhood (or just your family) gets fed up and shows up with torches and axes to deal with these nuisances.
Musty Mummies: “Chip” had stashed away a collection of random, useless stuff dating back to high school, sitting in boxes gathering dust. If you have items that have been wrapped up, hidden away and unused/unseen for eons that sit molding, disintegrating, gathering dust — and who knows what critter might crawl out of those wrappings—it’s okay to lift that curse, at last.